Page 8 of A Highland Gargoyle’s Lucky Star (Tales from the Tarot)

Chapter eight

Elryk

Guardian gargoyles cannot fight the connection they have with their fated mates. The magical power that ties them together is irresistible once mates find each other. Ignoring the bond is impossible for most. The intensity of the need for one another will grow all-consuming until the union is magically consummated. This process involves sharing magical power between mates. Guardians always have fated mates whose gifts can support or complement their own. The ritual for sharing their powers, however, remains a closely guarded secret.

—Guardians of the Line: A Hidden History by Dr. Targan Wildethorne

W hile I show Noah around the castle grounds, I find myself flexing my right hand repeatedly and strive to restrain my impulse to take hold of him and never let go.

The wee man is a conundrum. For some reason, he appears to be attracted to me.

To be sure, that’s likely only due to the mate bond.

Nevertheless, even his humorous flirtations have me on edge. They stoke the flame of my burning desire for him that seems to grow with every moment I’m in his presence. I’ve always prided myself on being in control and able to restrain myself.

But I’m starting to think I may not be able to when it comes to Noah Price.

I never thought I had a type .

Now I know better. My type is Noah, plain and simple.

He’s a wee slip of a man but feisty and brimming with excitement and curiosity over the smallest discoveries. His big honey-brown eyes and soft pouty lips make me yearn for things I’ve never allowed myself to want before. I already fantasize about running my fingers through his silky brown hair that curls softly at the ends to frame his gorgeous face.

When I leave him to rest before dinner, I flee like the hounds of hell are hot on my heels. I dare not be alone with him in his room or I might succumb to the lust gnawing at me with unrelenting tenacity.

The moment I make it back to my room, I’m grabbing the lube from my bathroom and stroking my rock-hard cock. Spending time with Noah is agony and ecstasy at the same time. I want—no, I need —to be near him, but my desire for him is already clouding my judgment.

It takes mere moments before I’m coming in thick, creamy spurts at the memory of that sweet kiss on the cheek he gave me. Far from the typical pornographic fodder, I know, but just recalling it makes me shake with need.

But coming down from my orgasmic high, I return to the stark reality before me.

Aye, Noah’s attracted to me and might be more than happy for a bone-meltingly good shag, but what about the lifelong commitment that comes with being a fated mate? I haven’t even dared to broach the subject yet, although I know it’ll inevitably come out during the meeting with Kelwyn later. Noah needs to realize who and what he is to our clan before he can understand what he also is to me.

I can’t help but feel a dark wave of despair threatening to wash over me. Once the novelty of being in a castle with a bunch of gargoyles wears off, then what? It’s hard for me to envision this bright and beautiful man wanting to stay here, with me, for the rest of his life. I may be shackled to my duty and responsibilities as a Guardian, but he doesn’t have to be as well.

Still brooding over these thoughts, I finally make my way downstairs when it’s time for dinner. I see Noah right away and he spots me at almost the exact same moment, smiling brightly and waving at me from where he’s already seated at one of the long dining tables.

By the Goddess, he’s marvelous.

My chest tightens at the sight of him and I cannae breathe for a moment.

A comforting and familiar hand comes to rest on my shoulder. “How ya doin’?” Braewyn asks.

“Fuckin’ shite.”

He laughs and gives me a hearty backslap. “Quit being a gloomy bastard. Your adorable mate’s over there giving you come-hither eyes. Don’t just stand here like a twat. Go to him.”

Not giving myself time to think, I let my body move on autopilot as it homes in on Noah and the open seat he’s patting right next to him.

“I saved you a seat,” he says with a smile.

His hair’s a little tousled, like he might have just woken up from a nap, and his expression is soft and inviting.

I want to make him mine and leave kiss marks all over his body.

Unbidden, a possessive rumble bubbles up inside my chest, and Noah’s eyes widen.

“Are you… purring?”

Gingerly, I sit down next to him and bite my lip as I try to will my newly burgeoning erection away. Evidently, jacking off once wasn’t enough with Noah in my midst.

“Gargoyles dinnae purr.”

He arches a skeptical eyebrow. “Sounds an awful lot like your version of one to me.” He licks his lips and surveys all the dishes being brought out to the table. “I understand though. All this amazing food makes me want to purr with satisfaction too.”

I don’t give two shits about the food.

I’d much rather eat his beautiful arse for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Realizing I’m staring at him in a ravenous manner, I clear my throat and look away. “Tal and his crew keep us all well fed.”

Everyone begins serving themselves from the communal dishes, and I watch in amazement as Noah piles an astonishing amount of food on his plate.

“Are you sure you can actually fit all of that in your stomach?” I ask.

He grins at me. “I told you before, I’ve got a hearty appetite. I’m confident that I can keep up with a gargoyle.”

Braewyn suddenly takes a seat next to me on my other side and begins heaping dinner onto his plate. “You’ll fit in here, no problem, Noah. We’re a species that takes our food very seriously.” He flexes a bicep at Noah and winks. “Got to keep this magnificent machine fueled and ready for action!”

Noah laughs.

I scowl at Braewyn and shift my body to block Noah’s view of him.

My soon-to-be-former best friend, if he keeps it up, just cackles.

Noah studies me for a moment, then shrugs and eagerly shoves a forkful of food in his mouth. Instantly, his eyes roll back in his head and he moans.

“Oh my God. What have you done to these potatoes?”

I glance at the tatties on my plate. “No clue. You’ll have to ask Tal, but it’s a common way he has of preparing them.”

“They’re just so delightfully crisp on the outside, but then the inside bursts with buttery softness when you eat them.”

The blissful look on Noah’s face is far too fetching. It makes me want to pounce on him.

Much like a cat.

But no, I do not bloody well purr.

For his part, Noah remains unaware, still fixated on the damn tatties.

“I think I could eat my weight in these potatoes. I’ll have to give my compliments to the chef,” he mumbles to himself, nodding decisively.

My irritation vanishes and I can’t help but smile. By the Light, why is everything he does and everything about him so adorable and yet sexy at the same time? It makes no fucking sense.

Noah glances up from his food and gasps. “Aha! You’re smiling. For real this time.” He beams at me. “I knew you could do it. Looks good on you.”

Feeling all kinds of awkward under his unexpected praise, I turn my attention to my own plate, which is still empty, and busy myself dishing up some grub that I barely even notice.

Why am I acting like a total and utter prat around Noah?

“Ignore Elryk’s brooding exterior,” Braewyn pipes up. “He’s a good and honest man with a big heart. His biggest problem is that he likes to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, even though he has plenty of friends and family to help him lighten the load if he’d just let us.”

Noah gives me an inquisitive look. “Weight of the world, huh? Let me guess, this is one of those things you can’t talk about until we have our meeting with the clan bigwig?”

I grunt and shovel some of the tatties he was just waxing poetic about into my mouth. They’re delicious, as always.

“I thought so,” Noah grumbles to himself, then proceeds to demolish the rest of the meat and veg on his plate.

When he finishes, he leans back with a contented sigh and rubs his belly as he looks around the dining hall with avid curiosity. But after a few moments, his gaze stops and I follow the direction of his eyes.

That’s when I notice my poor cousin, Sorwyn.

“Who’s that guy?” Noah whispers. “Why is he eating all alone at that table away from everyone else?”

I tense up. “It’s… a bit of a sensitive subject. What I can say is that Sorwyn committed a grave crime among our people. He made some foolhardy choices that led to the deaths of several people.”

“What happened to…” Noah gulps and his face pales. “…his wings?”

Somehow I knew he was going to ask me about that. After all, the grotesque sight is hard to miss.

I close my eyes and shudder. “It’s a punishment many of our kind consider worse than death. His wings have effectively been torn to shreds by the clipping process so that he may never fly the skies again and will forever be marked as an outsider among his kind—a dìobarach.”

Noah’s complexion turns ashen. “That sounds like some kind of medieval torture.”

“In many respects, it is. But it’s also a punishment that fits the crime. Sorwyn must now live a life of atonement. He’s been assigned to our medical wing in the castle to assist in caring for the sick and the injured among our people as penance.”

Noah frowns and his eyes glisten with a hint of tears. “He looks so sad and lonely. And he’s awfully thin compared to most of you.”

I swallow back the lump in my throat. It pains me every day to see my cousin, now a former shadow of himself.

“His punishment is recent. No doubt he’s still recovering from the physical and mental trauma of it all, along with the horrifying knowledge of what his actions wrought. A tribunal determined that death would be too easy a punishment for his actions. Instead, Sorwyn will be forced to live a difficult life to make amends for the pain and suffering he caused others.”

“Does no one eat with him or talk to him?” Noah asks, concern still written all over his face.

My mate is tenderhearted and kind. It warms my heart in spite of the sorrow I feel.

I look down at my lap. “Sorwyn is undergoing a period of shunning from the rest of the clan.”

“What, like the Amish do?”

“I suppose it would be something similar to that, but part of his punishment is to feel the weight of his betrayal to his clan, his kin, and his species. He must endure this period of isolation if he wishes to show the sincerity of his desire to make amends.”

“How long will this shunning last?”

“A year,” I tell him. “And in that respect, our clan leader was generous with him. In the past, other dìobarach who committed similar crimes often faced ostracization for life.”

Noah shakes his head. “But a year without communication and contact with others? That can’t be good for anyone’s mental health.”

“Perhaps not, but it is the way of our clan.”

His expression turns contrite. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be judging you and your culture. I just find this all a little hard to understand.” He shakes his head. “But then again, the human justice system is also inherently flawed and far from humane a lot of the time. I can’t exactly be casting stones.” He looks at Sorwyn one more time and then turns back to me, biting his lip nervously. “I know you all are shunning him, and I respect that, but would it be okay if I talk to him a little?”

I immediately frown. Why is Noah so interested in my cousin? My tail flicks with irritation.

“Why do you want to talk to him?”

Noah shrugs. “I just kind of feel bad for the guy. He looks like he’s lonely and in pain. I’ve always been a sucker for trying to help the underdog.”

“Are you… interested in him… romantically?” I grit out between clenched teeth.

Noah’s mouth slowly falls open as he stares at me in shock. “What? How did you come up with that idea?”

I growl. “You’re asking me a lot about him.”

Noah’s mouth closes slowly and his lips curve up into a knowing smirk. “Oh. My. Freaking. God. Are you… jealous ?”

I stiffen.

Fucking hell. I am, but I’m not going to tell him that.

I grunt. “You can talk to him at some point. But not right now.

He reaches out slowly, giving me time to move away if I want to, and rests his hand on my forearm, where he proceeds to pet it in a tantalizing manner that’s both soothing and arousing.

“My sweet, sexy Goliath come to life, the only gargoyle I’m interested in is you.” He licks his bottom lip and focuses on me with hooded eyes.

I fight back a groan as my cock hardens further.

“I… that is… uh…” Apparently, I can’t form coherent sentences when Noah’s looking at me like that.

No one has ever affected me quite like this before. It’s maddening, but at the same time, I want to bask in the feeling. To throw caution to the wind and enjoy the blissful abandon of sating my desires with my mate.

Braewyn starts roaring with laughter. “I’ve never seen Elryk so tongue-tied in my life. Good on you, Noah. I think I’m starting to adore you.”

They reach out and fist-bump one another, and I scowl at them both.

“Bugger off,” I tell Braewyn but he just grins knowingly at me.

With the dinner service nearly over, the kitchen staff begin clearing away the dishes.

“Should we help?” Noah asks.

“No, you’re our guest. Besides, the kitchen staff are employed to handle the cooking and cleaning for all clan meals. Over fifty of us reside in the castle year-round, so we have a large staff to take care of these needs.”

“That’s amazing. I had no idea there were so many of you.”

“Not everyone was here tonight. We have some who are out on missions of various kinds, and there are others in the clan who have small properties on our land and help with our agriculture endeavors. Those not born with magic usually leave and find new homes in places with more job opportunities.”

My mind drifts to my brother. I should call him. It’s been far too long since we last talked.

“You’re kind of like your own independent little island here.” Noah gets a twinkle in his eyes. “Pretty freaking cool.”

I clench a fist behind my back to fight back the impulse to pounce on him. “We’ve had to be as self-sufficient as possible. In times long gone by, when Otherkind weren’t nearly as welcome among humans as they are today, our clan found refuge here away from the threats the outside world posed.”

“That makes sense,” Noah agrees with a sad smile. “Humanity kind of sucks sometimes, and I say that as a human who fully understands the many flaws of my species.” He lets out an awkward chuckle. “As you’ve no doubt noticed, I’m far from perfect myself, but I try to be a good person and to treat others with kindness, care, and respect. It’s what my parents always taught me, anyway.”

I’m probably even more surprised than Noah when I say, “I’d like to learn more about them.”

And you .

Noah entwines his arm with mine and beams up at me with obvious joy. “My parents are awesome but also a bit quirky. I’d love to tell you all about them, just so long as you tell me about your family.” He winks. “Quid pro quo and all that jazz.”

“That sounds more than fair,” I agree.

He presses his body closer, and I can’t help but inhale the rich scent of him that reminds me of the heather and gorse that blooms here in summer. Earthy, with musky hints amidst the herbal and floral notes and that faint whiff of coconut-like aroma from the gorse. Yet on top of all that lies something bold and singular that is Noah’s alone.

Combined together, it smells like heaven.

Like home.

Like mine.

My mate.

The mounting compulsion to explore every square inch of his naked body fills my head with a cloud of lust unlike anything I’ve ever known before. Despite reading about this phenomenon with fated mates, I’m woefully unprepared for the reality of it.

Of Noah.

I thought I could be rational. Logical even.

I thought I could persuade him to ignore the bond and live his life without being trapped here as the mate of a Guardian.

But I don’t think I have a hope in hell of being able to utter those words now. Even if it might be better for him to run as fast and as far away from this life as possible. I don’t think I can let him go.

If I do, I fear it will destroy me.

We barely know each other, but already I cannae fathom a future without him.

I’m roused from my thoughts when I notice Kelwyn and some of the others heading out of the dining hall and toward the meeting room. The moment of truth has arrived.

I school my features, giving Noah a tight smile. “Come. We must attend the meeting with my clan leader.”

“About time,” Noah says, completely unaware of my inner turmoil. “You’ve been a man of mystery all day, and I’m looking forward to getting some answers to my questions.”

I mentally wince because I’m not so sure he’ll like what he learns. Noah may be attracted to me, but how will he feel about being fated mates? What will he think about the fact that being my mate means staying here—and for the rest of his life?

The meal I ate churns in my stomach and I focus on steadying my breathing.

Noah keeps his arm entwined with mine as we make our way to the meeting room, and I try to engrave this moment in my mind—just in case.

I sincerely hope it’s not the last time he touches me with such sweet and open regard.